Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Five

Parasite: Part One

"If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who then am I?" German Psychologist Erich Fromm

Before you walk into work, you look at the building in thought. I'm going to do better. I'm going to be better. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep feeling like this. You won't let these nightmares affect you as much as you know they are. You head inside work and immediately go to the briefing room where everyone else is.

Everyone looks at you as soon as you walk in.

"Sorry I'm late," you mumble and sit down next to Spencer.

He immediately grabs your hand and rubs his thumb across the back of your hand. There is another man you've never seen before inside the room next to JJ. She must know him.

"Everyone, this is Agent Russell Goldman from the San Diego White-collar team." She smiles at Russell. "You've already met Agent Hotchner. These are agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Reid, and Y/N."

"A pleasure," Russell nods.

"We're working a white-collar case?" Derek asks.

"No exactly."

"I've been following our con artist for five years. Two nights ago, I think he killed someone."

JJ puts pictures of the victim and her crime scene on the board.

"Carla Marshall of Miami was found dead in her home from asphyxiation by strangulation. She also had trauma wounds to the head."

"Why do you think the con man killed her?"

"Last week, Carla contacted a fraud website to report a scam. The complaint ended up on my desk," Russell explains. "We spoke on the phone at length. Her story matched my guy to the 'T'. She planned on confronting him that night. I told her to cease all communications and wait for me to fly to Miami and set up a sting. That never happened."

"Do you have physical evidence confirming it's your guy?" Derek asks.

"No, but for her to be murdered the night that we spoke, I don't think it was a coincidence."

"There was no sign of forced entry, theft, or sexual assault, and judging from the MO, the motive was personal."

"What's his hustle?" Emily asks.

"Investment fraud. Basically, he's a smaller Madoff."

"To give you an idea of how convincing he is, this is a sampling of his work going back fourteen years."

JJ shows proof of complaints about this guy and everything he's been involved in since.

"He's scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars from people, but he's never been violent before."

"Con men don't usually murder but when they do, it's to conceal their crimes. They may be con men but they profile as psychopaths. They see their cons as theater and themselves as a sort of puppeteer. They have to have absolute control over their victims and their cons."

"Maybe that's why he started killing? Because he lost control?" Emily theorizes.

"The question is, how out of control is he?"

"Well, if he's spiraling, he's a danger to everyone around him. Because he's so charming, the victims never see it coming."

Russell is nervous which also makes you nervous. You put your thumbnail in your mouth to chew on it but Spencer gently takes your hand out and holds it between both of his. You smile gratefully at him but that doesn't help to ease your anxiety.